This paper focuses on pragmatic failures in cross-cultural communication and explores the difficult meanings in cross-cultural pragmatics. Through exploring the differences in address, greeting, politeness and other cross-cultural aspects, the author explains the cross-cultural basis for pragmatics. The author first explains certain concepts, including culture, pragmatics, pragmatic failures and cross-cultural communication, and then illustrates some pragmatic failures in cross-cultural communication and discusses the causes of these failures. Finally, she gives some suggestions on improving competence in cross-cultural communication. This thesis is intended to remind English learners of the importance of learning cultures of English-speaking countries and facilitate cross-cultural communication.
